Coyote Gulch

Years ago I was researching a place to camp with a co-worker and I came across Coyote Gulch. We didn't go at that time, Amber and I have talked about going multiple times, finally I got invited to go with Erica Hancock and friends. We had a pretty good group and it was such a fun trip. I loved that the weather was so warm. I loved that I didn't have to drive or plan anything, I literally just showed up. I loved that we had teenagers with us and that we hung out at night playing games. I loved meeting new people. I loved that we didn't worry about covid-19 and social distancing. We just hiked and camped and shared food and water and had an awesome time. I slipped and fell down a rock face. . . . . that was not a highlight. I was SUPER embarrassed. I think because I didn't know everyone really well and I felt stupid. But that was the only downer. It hurt my pride a little but I recovered. The trip was so fun. Erica took the majority of these pictures. She did a great job of documenting the trip.

 We entered the canyon through the crack in the wall. This was a very narrow crack you had to climb through. Backpacks would not fit so we had to use rope and lower them down the side. It was a little crazy. Glad there were lots of strong men to do that. We hiked 3-4 miles the first evening to get to where we camped. We started hiking a little after 6 so we set up camp in the dark. The views were amazing. We hiked through so much fine sand. It was all downhill so it was easy just super sandy.

Getting close to camp. There aren't designated campgrounds so we just found a cool little shelf and set up camp.

 Friday morning we woke up and planned on hiking to Jacob Hamblins Arch. This would end up being a 15 mile round trip hike for us. That is with a couple side excursions. We left our heavy backpacks and just hiked with daypacks which was awesome.

Group shot pretty early in the morning.

 Most of the hike was in the water. That was really nice. We could cool off when we needed to. The water was pretty shallow. Apparently the water level fluctuates regularly but we never had water above our knees. All the girls posing at Coyote's Natural Bridge.

 This is a little section called swiss cheese.

Erica and I had to fill our selfie quota:)

The views were incredible all day.

 Jacob Hamblins Arch. So cool. It is huge in real life. Pictures don't really do it justice.

 On the way back to camp we did a side trip to the black Lagoon.

 Friday we got back to camp and ate and then played lots of games. It was so fun! Saturday morning we hiked out in the heat of the day. It was so hot and all uphill but we survived. It was much trickier getting the bags up the wall on rope. It took quite a while. This made me realize I would not choose that entry point if it were just me and one other person hiking. Always good to learn some things.

We finished the hike and hopped in the cars to hike Spooky and Peek-a-boo canyons. These are two slot canyons that are pretty close to each other. You can hike a little loop and do both of them. It was interesting to see but I felt like Spooky was a little too tight. It made me feel claustrophobic. Luckily the tight spots didn't last too long. There were also some pretty big drops so I was really grateful we had a large group and could help each other down. It was so hot and we didn't have enough water. That was a little mistake but we all survived.

We finished the slot canyons and then started the drive home. We stopped at a fun little pizza place just outside of Torrey. Again I was so grateful to not be driving. We didn't get home until after midnight. It was a short and packed trip, just how I like them. I was really grateful I got to join in on the fun!